New Device can Detect Harmful Bacteria in Blood in Real-time

New device can detect harmful bacteria in blood much faster, thereby helping health care professionals to diagnose and fight deadly infections, reports a new study.

Engineers have created a tiny device that can rapidly detect harmful bacteria in blood, allowing health care professionals to pinpoint the cause of potentially deadly infections and fight them with drugs.

Bacteria Beat Immune Systems
Pathogens can evolve to become more virulent without increasing their rate of replication. Pathogen virulence and replication rates can evolve separately, stated new study.

‘Tiny device can quickly detect harmful bacteria in blood, allowing health care professionals to diagnose and fight deadly infections.’

Tweet it Now

The Rutgers co-authored study, led by researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology, is published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

"The rapid identification of drug-resistant bacteria allows health care providers to prescribe the right drugs, boosting the chances of survival," said co-author Ruo-Qian (Roger) Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the School of Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

Drug-resistant bacteria, or super-bugs, are a major public health concern. Globally, at least 700,000 people die each year as a result of drug-resistant infections, including 230,000 deaths from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. That number could soar to 10 million deaths a year by 2050 if no action is taken, according to a 2019 report.

Color-changing Bandages Treat Bacterial Infections
Scientists have developed color-changing bandages that sense drug-resistant and drug-sensitive bacteria in wounds and treat them accordingly.

Based on a new approach, the tiny new device rapidly isolates, retrieves and concentrates target bacteria from bodily fluids. It efficiently filters particles and bacteria, capturing about 86 percent of them. The nano-device has magnetic beads of different sizes that are designed to trap, concentrate and retrieve Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. The small spaces between the beads are used to isolate bacteria in the device.

The inexpensive, transparent device is easy to fabricate and operate, making it ideal for detecting disease-causing organisms in laboratory and health care settings, according to the study. The research team is working to perfect the device and plans to add multiple devices onto a small chip and explore scaling up testing in the field.

Vaccine Against Fatal Bacteria Klebsiella Effective in Mice
Scientists have produced and tested, in mice, a vaccine that protects against a worrisome superbug: a hypervirulent form of the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Source-Eurekalert

Even the Fetus Has Gut Bacteria: Study
Fetus has it's own microbiome which can be used to improve preemie growth and immune system during high risk pregnancy, reports a new study.